Wednesday

Aug 22, 2018 at 11:51 AMAug 23, 2018 at 10:47 AM

With recreational marijuana sales approved and on their way, we take a look back at the impact Healthy Pharms -- so far the town's only operating medical marijuana establishment -- has had on Georgetown since their opening about a year ago and what this means for the three new marijuana businesses set to open up shop.

Georgetown Selectmen Doug Dawes said the "relationship is very good. They are a good partner with the community and there hasn’t been any police activity that we are aware of." He went on to say, "we wish them great success in the community."

On top of it all, Dawes said, "They were very willing to honor the agreement with the community." This agreement was formed before Healthy Pharms began business and includes a $100,000 donation to the town on their one-year anniversary.

Dawes believes there is a lot of potential with the revenue stream the marijuana businesses will provide the town.

"There could be some very good revenue coming in," said Dawes. "And if we are allowed to spend it in the way we see fit, we could be supporting first responders, buying new equipment, paying down debt, or even paving roads."

Although the revenue stream from these marijuana businesses will be a huge help to the town, Dawes explained, "We must be cautious and not rely on it. Nobody knows the true impact it will have on the community."

This comes in the form of using the money for immediate impacts on the town, but being vigilant and not adding this revenue into the budget until the sample size is large enough to predict the annual income contributed by these new businesses.

Georgetown Police Chief Donald Cudmore said the town hasn’t felt any crime impact from Healthy Pharms in regard to calls for service from the Police Department.

"We’ve had a good working relationship with them," Cudmore said. "They’re in a strategic location in the community whereas the community doesn’t really feel any traffic issues as a result of that."

We recently looked at what pot shops may or may not do to housing values, but what about the town as a whole?

There is still an unknown as to what marijuana businesses will impact Massachusetts and its towns down the road, Cudmore cautioned.

"The legalization of recreational marijuana has definitely impacted what our society is doing, and anything that impacts society as a whole impacts the police," Cudmore said. "I have to train officers specifically in dealing with people now who may or may not be under the influence of marijuana. We have to deal with the distribution of marijuana, because of it being delivered from business to business. Once recreational businesses open, we have to deal with that."

And then there are cannabis cafes – businesses with on-site consumption – Cudmore said police statewide will have to deal with.

Healthy Pharms does not allow on-site consumption, and none of the other cannabis businesses planned for Georgetown so far will, either. But as the industry grows, so likely will be the variety of shops entering the marijuana marketplace, including potential on-site consumption shops or cafes.

"We have yet to see what that is all about. We just don’t know," Cudmore said. "I’ve traveled across the country to where recreational marijuana is alive and well, and it just brings a very different tenor to an area. Even today, if you speak to anybody, you can smell it in public more than you ever have. People know that – whether you’re in a parking lot or even on a college campus – you can smell it. So, do we have direct impact right now? No, but I think the larger picture will tell that tale."

Healthy Pharms did not respond to requests for comment for this story.